Picosecond optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier as a preamplifier to generate high-energy seed pulses for contrast enhancement

We present the design, implementation, and testing of a novel picosecond optical parametric preamplifier system to generate high-energy seed pulses for the Vulcan laser facility. The preamplifier amplifies 100 fs pulses stretched to 3 ps pulses from 10 pJ to 70 μJ in a single stage of amplification before the pulses are further amplified in the Vulcan high-power Nd:glass laser facility to the petawatt power level. This increased seed energy has led to an improvement of the nanosecond amplified spontaneous emission contrast intensity to 10(-10) of the main pulse, without degrading the output of the laser system.